The Ed Koch legacy: Farewell to a feisty fighter

A Feisty Fighter. This title could be applied to two three-term New York mayors: Fiorello Laguardia (1934-1945) and Edward I. Koch (1978-1989).

ed koch_311 reuters.
(photo credit:Jeff Zelevansky / Reuters)

A Feisty Fighter. This title could be applied to two three-term New York mayors:
Fiorello Laguardia (1934-1945) and Edward I. Koch (1978-1989). Like
LaGuardia, Koch cut his teeth as a US Congressman. He was elected the second
Jewish mayor (following Abraham Beame) in November 1977, jumping into the
caldron of New York’s financial crisis. The great majority of New Yorkers
greatly admired his extraordinary fighting spirit, particularly in his first
term. He faced the daunting tasks of balancing a shaky budget; cajoling
financial aid from banks, union pension funds, and state and the Federal
government; taking on the municipal unions (including a serious mass transit
strike); and staving off urban decay. This was not done without incurring the
enmity of various ethnic constituencies and powerful pressure groups, but he was
convinced that municipal bankruptcy would have been a disaster.

At the
outset of his autobiography, Mayor, he credits the briefing by me (then vice
president Of Citibank) on the city’s budgetary and financial crisis, as the
impetus for his running for mayor two and a half years later. Koch says, “I
cannot say that the fiscal crisis was the beginning of my desire to be Mayor of
New York, because New Yorkers with long memories will recall that I ran
unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary in 1973.

But I can say honestly
that the challenge of saving the City from financial ruin or worse was the kind
of challenge I like. It was at that moment I knew I was going to run again for
Mayor.”

Never married, Koch had three great loves. First was the City of
New York. The second was the rough and tumble of politics. And the third was his
profound love for the State of Israel, even overshadowing his Jewish ethnic
pride. His bruising exchanges with President Jimmy Carter were
legendary.

For example, during the 1980 National Election, Koch said to
Carter, as quoted in Mayor, “And what they see, Mr. President, is that in
the one country which has consistently given them support, that support has
eroded. In the past we vetoed resolutions that were one-sided against Israel and
that questioned Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Then we got to the point
where we simply abstained, and now we are supporting resolutions that have
sanctions in them and are denunciatory.”

I will always cherish the
professional relationship I enjoyed with him . His fighting spirit filled most
New Yorkers with pride. He was a symbol of the spirit of New York
City.The writer, a senior economist and vice-president of Citibank for
25 years, was the first to identify the New York fiscal crisis and played a
major role in resolving it. He has a Masters of Public Affairs from
Princeton University.

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